1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a female physical condition managing apparatus which permits women to make a decision about the monthly physical condition in which there appear a set of physical effects that women feels less pleasing on the ovulation day, at the time they have the premenstrual syndrome (hereinafter abbreviated as xe2x80x9cPMSxe2x80x9d) or for the pregnancy-possible period.
2. Prior Art
The women""s monthly physical condition is related closely with their body temperature. The body temperature transfers from the low-temperature period to the high-temperature period on the ovulation day, and from the high-temperature to the low-temperature period on the beginning day of the menstruation period.
In the monthly physical condition different aspects appear in four divisional periods, that is, the menstruation period, the post-menstruation period, the post-ovulation period and the pre-menstruation period. In these different aspects women are said to have a variety of mental and physical effects, as for instance, follows: women are liable to have an increased quantity of water or fat in their bodies with the result that their weights increase 1 to 3 kilograms.
Women have the PMS seven days prior to the beginning of the menstruation period, causing most women to suffer from headache, irritation, stomach trouble, swell or any other unpleasing symptom. It is said that if they are on a diet while being in poor condition, the stress increases, and that as a counter action they eat a lot of food.
Also, it is said that they relax by realizing that such unpleasing aspect is attributable to the PMS, accepting it as a token of proving that they are in good health.
Recently the dieting has been popular as effective means for women to become thinner. Women on a diet must continue limiting the amount and type of food that they eat in order to become thinner, paying little or no consideration to their mental or physical conditions. The practice of limiting the amount and type of food while they are in poor condition or unstable in mind will burden their bodies badly. Particularly some adverse effects will be caused on their physical conditions as for instance, follows: their skin loses an attractive shiny appearance; their hair loses luster; their nails are easily broken.
Even though women are not on a diet, they are liable to have such unpleasing effects cyclically owing to monthly endocrine disorders in their bodies. In the hope of improving their physical conditions they are inclined to take excessive amounts of certain medicines or particular types of food to cause side effects on their bodies. Otherwise, excessive making-up causes their skin to get worse.
A set of symptoms including appearance of the swelling will be caused at the time they have the PMS, but there has been no means to realize that they are having the PMS rather than particular disease. The incapability of realizing the situation has been annoying women.
In view of the above what is aimed at by the present invention is to permit women to: make a correct decision about their physical condition; and have a good advice how to deal with the so determined physical condition, thereby allowing them to release from their anxieties and reducing the burden on their mind. This is really the case with the anxieties at the time they have the PMS. Also, such remedy is most effective to allow women to continue dieting efficiently.
As described above the women""s monthly physical condition is related closely with their body temperature. The body temperature transfers from the low-temperature period to the high-temperature period on the ovulation day, and from the high-temperature to the low-temperature period on the beginning day of the menstruation period. Also, as described above, in the monthly physical condition different aspects appear in four divisional periods, that is, the menstruation period, the post-menstruation period, the post-ovulation period and the pre-menstruation period, and in these different aspects women are said to have a variety of mental and physical effects.
As is well known, women can presume when they will have ovulation days and menstruation periods by measuring their body temperatures each and every day with body thermometers.
The body temperatures thus measured can be recorded in the form of graphs, which dearly show the transition from the high-temperature period to the low-temperature period or inversely from the low-temperature period to the high-temperature period. From such graphic presentation women learn that two different aspects appear in the monthly physical condition. Appearance of two different aspects proves that their bodies are in normal condition, making women learn that the rhythmic variation of physical condition is normal.
Also, such body temperature can be recorded in the form of tables. This type of recording is adopted by doctors and other medical experts for the purpose of making a decision about their patients"" physical conditions.
Such graphic presentation of body temperature is useful in healthcare, but recording body temperature each and every day is not easy to continue. Women take their body temperature every morning in bed by putting and holding their thermometers in their mouths a few minutes, and they must make manually a graphic record or table showing how the body temperature varies every day. Women often fall in sleep while taking their body temperature in bed.
Women are busy after getting up in the morning, having no sufficient time left for measuring and recording their body temperature. As a result there appear blanks here and there in the graph, and such
In view of the above what is aimed at by the present invention is to permit women to readily determine which stage of the monthly physical condition has been reached by making a simple measurement, the result of which is displayed quickly in easily understandable fashion. Thus, they can be released from unnecessary anxieties, realizing that they are in normal condition.
Japan Patent Application No. H-11-258358, which patent application was filed by the same applicant as the present patent application, proposed an apparatus for measuring the value of bioelectrical impedance hereinafter, the term, xe2x80x9cbioelectrical impedancexe2x80x9d abbreviated as xe2x80x9cBIxe2x80x9d) and for making a decision about the monthly body condition on the basis of BI thus measured. The value of BI is closely related with the body temperature, remaining high for the period for which the body temperature remains low whereas remaining low for the period for which the body temperature remains high. After rising before the beginning of the menstruation period the body temperature descends, and it remains low in the early half of the menstruation period.
To achieve the first aim or objective as described above a female physical condition managing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is so designed that it uses the relation between the BI and the monthly physical condition to make a decision about the monthly physical condition in terms of the measured BI values, selecting a most appropriate advisory message from those prepared beforehand and giving the so selected advisory message to a woman who is using the apparatus. Specifically at the time the woman has the PMS, the degree of swelling is determined in terms of the measured value of BI, and then a most appropriate advice is given to the woman. Also, the woman can be given a most appropriate advice, which is prepared by taking into consideration the present physical condition and the difference between the present weight and the weight she desires.
Specifically a female physical condition managing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises: a bioelectrical impedance meter for measuring the value of BI of a woman who is using the apparatus; an advice storing device for storing a plurality of advisory messages for each of the specific divisional periods characteristic of the different phases which are noticeable from the monthly body condition of the woman; a decision-making unit for making a decision as to which specific divisional period the woman is passing over on the basis of the time-series transition of BI; an advising unit responsive to the decision-making of which specific divisional period for retrieving appropriate advisory messages from the advise storing device; and an informing unit for informing the woman of the so retrieved advisory messages.
The advice storing device may have advisory messages stored for each of the first divisional period spanning from the beginning day to the ending day of the menstruation period, the second divisional period spanning from the day subsequent to the termination of the menstruation period to the ovulation day, the third divisional period spanning from the ovulation day to the specific day one week earlier than the beginning of next menstruation period presumable from the record, and the fourth divisional period spanning from the specific day to the beginning day of next menstruation period.
The advice storing device may have advisory messages stored for the fifth pregnancy-possible period.
The decision-making unit may include a swelling determining unit, which is responsive to the decision-making of the present period being the fourth divisional period for determining the degree of swelling in terms of the value of BI determined by the bioelectrical impedance meter, and for retrieving the most appropriate advisory message from the advise storing device.
The female physical condition managing apparatus may further comprise: an inputting unit for setting and inputting a desired weight; a weight scale for measuring the present weight; and a weight-difference arithmetic unit for determining the difference between the desired weight and the present weight, whereby the advising unit may retrieve appropriate advisory messages from the advise storing device on the basis of the difference between the desired weight and the present weight and the divisional period representing the current body condition.
The value of BI may be the one modified with the weight measured by the weight scale.
The appropriate advisory messages may pertain to the weight and the dieting.
In a case where the divisional period determined by the decision-making unit is the third divisional period, the appropriate advisory messages pertaining to the weight and the dieting may induce the woman to perform the dieting positively.
To achieve the second aim or objective as described above a female physical condition managing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention is so designed that it uses the relation between the BI and the monthly physical condition (see Japan Patent Application No. H-11-258358) to permit a woman using the apparatus to make a decision as to whether her body is in good condition in terms of the values of BI, which are measured each and every day to provide graphic presentations showing how such factor varies with time.
Specifically a female physical condition managing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention comprises: a bioelectrical impedance meter for measuring the value of BI of a woman who is using the apparatus; a bioelectrical impedance memory for storing the measured values of BI; an arithmetic unit for calculating the mean value of the values of BI stored for the period for which the BI remains at raised values and the mean value of those stored for the period for which the BI remains at lowered values; and a display for displaying the time-sequence transition of the stored BI values in the form of graphs, and for displaying the mean values of the raised values of BI and the lowered values of BI in the form of graphs.
A female physical condition managing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention comprises: a bioelectrical impedance meter for measuring the value of BI of a woman who is using the apparatus; a bioelectrical impedance memory for storing the measured values of BI; and a display for displaying the time-sequence transition of the recorded values of BI in the form of graphs, representing time in abscissas and the values of BI in ordinates, the value of BI increasing with the descending distance toward the axis of abscissas, whereby the envelope of the raised values of BI may be low whereas the envelope of the lowered values of BI may be high.
The female physical condition managing apparatus may further comprise a decision-making unit for making a decision on which specific divisional period of the monthly physical condition the woman is passing over on the basis of the time-sequence transition of BI, allowing the display to show the present physical condition along with the graphic presentation.
The female physical condition managing apparatus may further comprise a decision-making unit for making a decision on which specific divisional period of the monthly physical condition the woman is passing over on the basis of the time-sequence transition of BI; and a physical condition memory for storing the physical conditions determined by the decision-making unit, thus allowing the display to show in the graphic presentation, the divisional period for which the woman has passed over for reference.
The female physical condition managing apparatus may further comprise a body temperature presuming unit for making a decision as to whether the body temperature varies in the high-temperature period or the low-temperature period from the time-sequence transition of the BI values stored in the bioelectrical impedance memory, whereby the display is made to indicate in the graphic presentation, the high-temperature period or the low-temperature period thus presumed by the body temperature presuming unit.
A female physical condition managing apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention comprises: a bioelectrical impedance meter for measuring the value of BI of a woman who is using the apparatus; a bioelectrical impedance memory for storing the measured values of BI;
an arithmetic unit for calculating the mean values per monthly period of the BI values of the high-temperature period and of those of the low-temperature period with reference the monthly physical condition of the woman; and a display for showing the mean values of the BI values of the high-temperature period and those of the low-temperature period in each of plural monthly periods in the form of graph.